Overall men’s and women’s leaders Rachid El Morabity and Maryline Nakache added a few seconds to their leads on the penultimate stage of the Marathon des Sables.
From the start it’s been Rachid against his brother Mohammed, but the former is now within touching distance of what would be a record-breaking 11th win.
The women’s race has been more clear-cut and 2023 winner Nakache is set to repeat that win in style.
Men’s race – As you were
There will be no taking anything for granted from either of the El Morabity brothers on Saturday’s final stage given what happened 12 months ago.
Mohamed looked on course for an emphatic victory then but, hampered by injury, he saw a huge lead wiped away as Rachid claimed a record-equalling 10th success by a matter of seconds.
This time everything looks on track for Rachid. He put his focus on the double-distance fourth stage and it paid dividends as he won that by nearly 10 minutes to open up a near four-minute gap on the general classification.
And stage five – over 42.4km – saw him add 40 seconds to that as he came in first in 3:26:15, with his brother chasing him home.
All of which now means he has four and a half minutes to play with on the final stage, with the duo way, way clear of fellow Moroccan Ahmed Ouikhalfen in third.
Women’s race – Nakacke poised for victory
There’s unlikely to be any dramatic twist in the women’s race, such has been Nakache’s domination.
The Frenchwoman’s lead is now up to an hour and 40 minutes over defending champion Aziza El Amrany (MAR).
Nakache was first home on Friday in 3:45:27 (and fifth overall), with her rival next at 3:49:04.
Again there is a huge gap to the third-placed Tomomi Bitoh of Japan.
